Kallista Graye
Kallista Elisa Graye is the main narrator and heroine of the Ember series. She is the progeny of Karla Graye and Logan Graye, born 1990 in Seattle, Washington. She, and her half-sister Karina, are the only two direct descendants from a Raveni bloodline. Early Life Kallista grew up in Seattle, WA with both her parents until their divorce in 1998. After this, she spent most of her time on the road with her mother, as her mother moved across the continental USA to carry out her work as Raveni Ysera. Kallista has fragmented memories of her childhood. She spent the majority of her schooling life home-schooled by her mother. She had met Dante and Luka Alexander when she was nine years old, and formed a close friendship with each of them. She continued this friendship during her Summer vacations which she spent in Seattle with her father until she was seventeen years old. Being Chosen After the unexplained death of her mother, Kallista ends up in Saint Benedict's Institution where she is counselled by Marcus Langtry in attempt to regain her memories of the event. Upon leaving the institution, Kallista meets the ophanim Kurai who gives her her mother's ohm, which systematically chooses her as the next Raveni. Prior to having the ohm placed on her wrist, Kallista was capable of sensing demons, performing her first strigoi kill during her time in Saint Benedict's Institution, doing so on pure instinct. She had her memories erased of the event as she was deemed mentally unstable to bear the mantle of Raveni at the time. The Inciting Ember After Kallista's bond to the ohm left behind by Karla Graye, she is brought by the Council of the Highest and is named Raveni ijal, meaning 'little wing', due to her age and her negligence in magical proficiency. She is appointed her new guardian, the moroi Dimitri Olanescu. After the murder of her best friend Claire Summers, Kallista goes on a vendetta, searching for her killer, allowing herself to be cornered by the moroi Tyler Korsakov and being saved by Dante Alexander, exposing her to his involvement in her new world. Kallista learns about her powers of retrocognition, and is able to access the memories of a deceased Raveni, named Annalise Montgomery, learning that Tyler Korsakov and an unknown female assailant have been behind the systematic culling of Council instruments. Believing that Ana Chekov would be their next target, Kallista goes to High Inquisitor Minerva for help, and she instructs a task force to remove Ana from Saint Benedict's to return her to the Council vaults for safe-keeping. After an attack on the ball, suspected to have been orchestrated by Tyler Korsav, High Inquisitor Minerva Blackwood believed it in her best interest to hide her away from the Sentinel. This results in her being taken to Montana to a safe-house where her mother's foster sister Eliza Graye lives, with her daughter Ella, with Kurai. Kurai and Kallista remain hidden, safely, for a time being, sharing a life together nothing more than blissfully mundane, where Kallista learns of what Kurai is ― a fallen ophanim. Their precious time together comes to a halt when Kallista returns home to find her family murdered, and the appearance of someone claiming to be related to her. Personality "You've tried to kill me, time and time again, you old bastard... But here's the punchline: I can't die." ― Kallista Inferno Kallista is a quick-learner, and is described as resourceful and headstrong. She is commonly referred to as stubborn, due to her persistent nature. Once she decides on something she tends to be unmoving in her decision. She is viewed by the Council as rebellious and a trouble-maker, being openly distrusting and suspicious of her duty as a Raveni. She is a fiercely loyal friend, and does not see the world in black and white, but varying shades of gray. She is terribly empathetic, making it difficult for her to kill demons. Kallista is notoriously impulsive and tends to solve her problems with violence. Before being chosen as Raveni, she is naive and focused on her music, but after she is chosen, she becomes increasingly self-deprecating and self-doubting, typically second-guessing the intentions behind her actions, even if she acts recklessly. She finds it difficult to bear the mantle of Raveni and Ourobouros, viewing herself as nothing more than a person driven by fear, rather than her innate desire to do what is righteous. She lost touch with her ability to invoke the strength to carry out justice once she was turned, feeling disconnected from her humanity, and from the events of Inferno tends to act in the best interest of herself and to minimize the suffering of those she loves, rather than Viatum as a whole. Powers and Abilities At the start of her tenure as Raveni Ijal, Kallista failed her elemental trials but succeeded in hand-to-hand combat. This put her at a disadvantage compared to the other reigning Raveni, as she was not preternaturally gifted with the ability to wield an element. However, as time went on and Kallista became more in-tune with her pre-existing magic she started to develop control over each of the four elements. Kallista is the sole Raveni to have ever possessed the forbidden breath, and is capable of healing wounds, damaging and destroying souls, resurrecting the dead, and using retrocognition. Being Raveni, Kallista is preternaturally strong, exhibiting super-strength and speed, and the ability to sense demons. She is also capable of using written magic. Kallista is the incarnation of the Ourobouros, a mystical weapon forged to overthrow the Heavenly Host and Gehenna at will. Due to this, she is incapable of permanent death, and is reincarnated whenever she dies. From the events of Ember, Kallista is soul-bonded to Kurai. Their bond allows for her to access his memories and astral project to his position during unconsciousness, but it also results in physical wounds inflicted on Kurai to appear on Kallista, and vice versa, using one another as conduits for pain. Kallista's capabilities of using the forbidden breath was initially attributed to her bond to Kurai, but is in fact due to her being the Ouroboros. After being turned by Granville Wetherby during the events of Inferno, she exists solely off the fresh blood of humans, unable to digest anything else. Relationships Relationship with Kurai "We're connected. Whether you like it or not, we are. We need each other. We have to help each other when things aren't going okay, and I owe you ''so much''." ― Kallista to Kurai Cinder Kallista and Kurai's relationship started out rocky, Kurai simply using her as a means to an end and watching over her so as to keep his promise to Karla Graye. However as time went on, Kurai and Kallista grew genuinely closer, becoming romantically involved over a one-night stand which causes them to be bonded after Kurai took a piece of her soul, causing them to become psychically linked. Kurai maintains that he is incapable of human emotion, and tends to push Kallista away if they are ever intimate with one another. It could be speculated that due to their bond, Kurai is able to feel human emotions to some extent, and as thus influences many of his more selfless actions. Another theory is that due to Kurai inhabiting a human's body, he may feel residual emotions left by the soul that it belonged to (Luka Alexander). Kurai is the only person to call Kallista by the nickname Kal. Relationship with Dante Alexander "It's you, kiddo. It's always gonna be you." ― Dante to Kallista Oblivion Kallista had always been drawn to Dante, but was always too nervous to approach him due to their age difference and their statuses at school. Kallista had spent her Summers in Seattle with Dante, who assisted her with preparing for her entrance exams for the Juilliard School of Music. Dante, not wanting to disrupt Kallista's stolen memories, had been positioned by the Council as a teacher at Marker State High School in order to watch over Kallista, and to provide her with protection due to her mother's position as Raveni and in the off-chance that Kallista was selected as the next Raveni. Dante remained, for a great deal of time, stoic and cold towards Kallista for fear of loving her, being (at the time) dutiful to the Council and the Highest, not wanting to damn Kallista to Hell by breaking the law with regards to instrumentation affairs. He even goes so far as to attempting to fulfill Kallista's contract to thwart his feelings for her, trying to remain loyal to the Highest, but is unable to take her life, and instead confesses his love to her. Their relationship is strained and shot-lived throughout each of its tenures due to a number of reasons, and never really recovers after Kallista denies his marriage proposal during the events of Oblivion. Relationship with Eli Zurikova "If you tell me to jump, I will ask you how high. I cannot perform miracles, but if you ask, I will try." ― Eli to Kallista Cinder Kallista enters an illicit friendship with Eli Zurikova near the end of the events of Cinder, causing ripples in her relationships with her guardian at the time Dimitri Olanescu, and her best-friend Jacob Summers. Eli develops an initially unrequited love for Kallista during the events of Cinder, confessing to her early on that he "want you all for myself". He is complacent, and due to the fact that she is Raveni, he is typically happy to assist her in her quest for the truth, allowing her into the Seattle Council vaults and showing her the collection of seers and divulging to her the nature of his duty to the Council and lending her his powers of compulsion at the expense of his well-being without question. Eli, with the help of Albrecht and Abaddon, break Kallista out of the vaults in Japan after her arrest, and he hides her across Europe, offering her a life with him after she is changed. He proposes to her in Inferno, but she does not answer, and it isn't until she and Dante's relationship breaks down does she allow herself to become intimate with Eli. Eli is terribly loyal to Kallista, and loses his virginity to her, intending for her to be his only love. He is closed-off and ashamed of his jealousy, but they manage to overcome this. However, Eli is manipulated by his mother throughout the events of Inferno, causing Kallista to distrust the intentions behind Eli's kindness. This is made worse by the fact that Eli is tasked with performing an extraction on Dimitri when he is arrested for conspiracy, carrying out the extraction unbeknownst to Kallista. Once Eli is elected High Inquisitor, his relationship with Kallista ends abruptly and he is wed to Moira Stanek. Kallista, making an attempt on his life, finds a disheveled, broken-hearted Eli, and he confesses to her that he had intended her to be his only love. After he agrees to help Kallista save Kurai from his catatonia in the events of Oblivion, he distances himself from her and their relationship breaks down. Trivia * Kallista is an 8th grade proficient violinist. * Kallista's favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's. * Kallista adopted a stray cat and named him Mozart. He lives between the Alexander house, and her apartment. * As a human, Kallista hated the taste of coffee, and usually had her coffee with caramel syrup. After she was turned she drank black-coffee as a means to distract her hunger. * Kallista enjoys whisky, and takes up smoking after the events of Inferno. * Kallista's favorite color is orange. * Kallista has different nicknames depending on who's talking to her. Eli calls her mans skaists (lit. My beautiful one), Kurai calls her Kal, Dante calls her kiddo and Jacob calls her Graye. Most of the Council members call her by her Highest given name ijal. Category:Characters